BOP Custody Classification: Security Levels, Points, and Reviews

Federal inmate placement runs on a numbered scoring system. Bureau of Prisons staff score each person on a standardized form, add or subtract points for specific factors, and match the total to one of five security levels. BOP custody classification is governed by Program Statement 5100.08, and the same process controls both where you go on day one and where you can move later.¹ The math matters, but so do the overrides. A single Public Safety Factor can send someone to a higher-security facility than their score alone would ever produce.

The Five Security Levels

Every BOP institution is Minimum, Low, Medium, High, or Administrative. The physical differences between them are real, not cosmetic.

Minimum facilities are federal prison camps: dormitory housing, limited or no perimeter fencing, a low staff-to-inmate ratio, and heavy emphasis on work programs.
Low facilities have double-fenced perimeters, mostly dormitory or cubicle housing, and higher staffing than camps.
Medium facilities use strengthened perimeters, often double fences with electronic detection, and mostly cell-type housing.
High facilities are United States Penitentiaries. Walls or reinforced fences, single or multiple-occupancy cells, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of all movement.
Administrative facilities house inmates of any security level for a special mission. This category includes Metropolitan Correctional Centers and Metropolitan Detention Centers for pretrial detainees, Federal Medical Centers for serious health needs, and the Administrative Maximum facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado.²

How the Security Point Score Is Calculated

The scoring starts with the Presentence Investigation Report. BOP staff take that data and complete the Inmate Load and Security Designation form, BP-A0337, which assigns points across roughly a dozen categories.³ The total dictates the security level.

The main scoring items are:

Severity of the current offense, scored on a scale from Lowest (0 points) to Greatest (7 points) using the BOP’s Offense Severity Scale.
Criminal history score from the sentencing guidelines, ranging from 0 points for a score of 0–1 up to 10 points for a score of 13 or higher.
Age. Under 25 draws 8 points; 25–35 draws 4; 36–54 draws 2; 55 and older draws 0.
Escape history. A serious escape from a secure facility adds 3 points regardless of when it happened. Minor escapes are scored on a sliding scale by recency.
Detainers from other jurisdictions, adding 1 to 7 points based on the severity of the alleged conduct.
Education. A verified high school diploma or GED is 0 points. No diploma and no GED enrollment adds 2.
Drug or alcohol abuse within the past five years, adding 1 point.
Voluntary surrender, which subtracts 3 points.

Point Cutoffs

Male inmates are placed as follows: 0–11 points is Minimum, 12–15 is Low, 16–23 is Medium, and 24 or more is High.

Female inmates are scored on the same forms but against different thresholds and with three security levels rather than four: 0–15 is Minimum, 16–30 is Low, and 31 or more is High. The female-specific versions of the classification forms have been discontinued.¹

Public Safety Factors That Override the Score

A Public Safety Factor is the override switch. Even when the point total qualifies someone for a camp, a PSF can force placement at a higher level. The list includes:

Greatest Severity Offense, where the current conviction sits at the top of the Offense Severity Scale (males only).
Disruptive Group membership validated through the Central Inmate Monitoring System (males only).
Sex Offender, based on current or prior sexual assault, child exploitation material, or sexual contact with a minor or incapacitated person.
Deportable Alien, applied to any non-citizen. This PSF requires at least Low security placement.
Sentence Length. More than ten years remaining triggers Low; more than twenty triggers Medium; more than thirty triggers High (males only).
Serious Escape, meaning escape from a secure facility or any escape involving a threat of violence.
Threat to Government Officials, based on Central Inmate Monitoring System classification.
Prison Disturbance, based on a finding of guilt for engaging in or encouraging a riot.
Violent Behavior, meaning two or more serious violent incidents within the past five years (females only).
Juvenile Violence, based on a documented violent incident with a juvenile conviction or adjudication.
Serious Telephone Abuse, meaning using the phone to further criminal activity or promote illicit organizations.⁴

The Deportable Alien PSF is one of the most commonly applied. It bars placement in any minimum-security camp and requires at least Low security housing. It can be waived only if Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Executive Office for Immigration Review determines that deportation proceedings are unwarranted, or if the inmate has been naturalized. For a non-citizen whose point total would otherwise qualify for a camp, this one factor can dictate the entire sentence.⁴

Management Variables and Judicial Recommendations

Management Variables work in the opposite direction from Public Safety Factors. They give BOP staff discretion to place someone at a level inconsistent with the raw score when the numbers do not tell the whole story. A Management Variable is required any time that happens.⁴ Common reasons include medical needs only certain facilities can meet, age-related considerations where the point score overstates actual risk, and population management concerns.

One Management Variable is particularly worth attention: the judicial recommendation. When the sentencing judge recommends a specific facility, region, or program such as the Residential Drug Abuse Program, the Designation and Sentence Computation Center will try to honor that recommendation if it is consistent with sound correctional management. A specific institution named by the judge appears at the top of the designator’s list. When the recommendation cannot be followed, BOP notifies the court in writing with an explanation.¹

Security Level Versus Custody Level

These two concepts get confused constantly, and the distinction shapes daily life inside. The security level describes the institution. The custody level describes the individual inmate’s privilege tier within that institution. Custody levels are Community, Out, In, and Maximum.

Community is the lowest custody level: eligible for housing outside the secure perimeter, outside work details with minimal supervision, and community-based programs.
Out custody allows work outside the perimeter with staff checks at least every two hours, and less secure housing.
In custody means regular housing and regular work assignments under normal supervision. Not eligible for outside work or programs.
Maximum custody is reserved for inmates identified as assaultive, predatory, or serious escape risks. Quarters and work assignments are chosen for maximum control.

Two people at the same Low security facility can have very different daily lives depending on custody level. Custody is recalculated at each annual review using the Custody Classification Form, BP-A0338, which scores institutional behavior, program participation, and other adjustment factors.¹

Where Designation Actually Happens

Once scoring is complete, the facility assignment is made by the Designation and Sentence Computation Center, a centralized office at the Grand Prairie Office Complex in Texas. DSCC staff match the inmate to a facility using security level, medical care level, program needs, bed space, and administrative factors such as separation requirements and victim or witness protection concerns.⁵

Federal law requires BOP to place inmates as close as practicable to their primary residence, and to the extent practicable within 500 driving miles of it.⁶ That preference, codified under the First Step Act, is subject to bed availability, security designation, program needs, and medical or mental health requirements. If the closest qualifying facility is full, the placement is farther away. BOP is also required to consider transferring inmates closer to home even when they are already within 500 miles.⁷

Most inmates travel to their designated facility through the U.S. Marshals Service.⁸ Those granted voluntary surrender instead receive a letter setting the date and time to report directly to the institution. Self-surrender also lowers the security score by 3 points, which can be the difference between Low and Minimum.

Medical and Mental Health CARE Levels

Health needs narrow the facility list before security level even enters the picture. BOP assigns a medical CARE level from 1 to 4 and, where applicable, a separate mental health CARE level. Placement must be at a facility that meets or exceeds both.

Medical CARE Levels

Level 1 covers generally healthy inmates, possibly with chronic conditions managed by clinician visits every 6 to 12 months. Most inmates fall here.
Level 2 covers stable outpatients needing clinician evaluations monthly to every 6 months, including patients with implanted devices like pacemakers.
Level 3 covers complex chronic conditions requiring more than monthly specialist contact to prevent hospitalization, sometimes with help for daily activities and occasional inpatient stays.
Level 4 requires a BOP Medical Referral Center, with 24-hour skilled nursing care.⁹

Mental Health CARE Levels

Level 1-MH means no history of psychosis or mania outside substance abuse, no psychiatric hospitalization in the past five years, and control on two or fewer psychotropic medications (excluding atypical antipsychotics).
Level 2-MH means psychiatric hospitalization in the past five years, or chronic treatment with an atypical antipsychotic or more than two psychotropic medications.
Level 3-MH covers conditions short of inpatient criteria but involving two or more hospitalizations in the past three years, three or more antipsychotics, five or more total psychotropic medications, or a need for more than monthly clinician contact over an extended period.
Level 4 requires a Medical Referral Center with 24-hour skilled nursing or psychiatric care.

Level 3-MH criteria can override the medical CARE level for designation, so a facility with strong psychiatric staffing may be chosen even where the physical health needs could be met at a simpler institution.¹⁰

Detainers and Immigration Status

Pending charges from state or local jurisdictions score as detainers on the BP-A0337, adding 1 to 7 points based on the severity of the alleged conduct. Consecutive state sentences, state parole violation warrants, and lodged detainers all count. A law enforcement agency’s firm intent to file a detainer is treated the same as a lodged one. Concurrent state sentences only count if the state term is expected to outlast the federal sentence.¹

ICE detainers work differently. They do not add detainer points. They trigger the Deportable Alien Public Safety Factor, which requires at least Low security housing regardless of the point total.⁴

Annual and Interim Custody Reviews

Classification is not fixed. Every inmate gets a custody review at least every 12 months, with staff completing a new BP-A0338 that recalculates custody based on institutional behavior, program participation, and any new incidents.¹¹ Interim reviews outside that 12-month cycle can be triggered by a new sentence, a serious incident report, a sentence reduction, or refusal to participate in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program.

Disciplinary Infractions

The BOP grades prohibited acts in four severity tiers: Greatest (100-level), High (200-level), Moderate (300-level), and Low Moderate (400-level). These feed straight into the custody score. A clean record earns 5 points in the incident category. One Low Moderate incident in the past year drops it to 4. One Moderate or multiple Low Moderates drop it to 3. One High severity incident in the past two years drops it to 2. Multiple High severity incidents in the past two years drop it to 1. Any Greatest severity incident within the past ten years drops it to 0.¹ A single 100-level shot wipes out a decade of good conduct in this scoring category.

The Financial Responsibility Program

Refusing to participate in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program has classification consequences beyond the payments themselves. Inmates in “FRP Refuse” status are automatically scored 0 points for both program participation and living skills on the custody form, no matter how many classes they have completed. Those zeros can block a reduction in custody level or trigger an increase.¹

Requesting a Transfer

Transfer requests have to originate with the unit team at the current institution. Inmates cannot apply directly to the DSCC. If the unit team supports the transfer, it sends a referral to DSCC, which makes the final decision using security level, medical classification, program needs, bed space, and proximity to the release residence.⁵ A unit team that will not support a request effectively ends it.

Challenging Your Classification

Anyone who believes their security or custody classification is wrong uses the BOP’s Administrative Remedy Program. The process is sequential and deadline-driven, and missing a step can bar further review. The issue has to be raised informally with staff first. Then the three-level appeal runs as follows:

Institution level: file Form BP-9 with the Warden within 20 calendar days of the classification decision. The Warden has 20 days to respond.
Regional level: if the Warden’s response is unsatisfactory, file Form BP-10 with the Regional Director within 20 calendar days. Response due in 30 days.
Central Office level: if the Regional Director’s response is unsatisfactory, file Form BP-11 with the General Counsel within 30 calendar days. Response due in up to 40 days.

Each level requires a copy of the prior request and response. Extensions are available for a valid reason such as being in transit or physically incapacitated.¹²

Completing this process is generally required before a federal court will consider a legal challenge. Even then, judicial review is sharply limited. Federal law states that a designation decision under 18 U.S.C. § 3621 is not reviewable by any court.⁶

1
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5100.08 – Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. About Our Facilities
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. BP-A0337 – Inmate Load and Security Designation
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. Program Statement 5100.08 – Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. Designations
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3621 – Imprisonment of a Convicted Person
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. First Step Act – Designation/500 Driving Miles
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U.S. Marshals Service. Prisoner Transportation
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. Care Level Classification for Medical Conditions or Disabilities
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. Care Level Classification for Medical and Mental Health Conditions or Disabilities
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. BOP Program Statement 5100.08 – Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification
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Federal Bureau of Prisons. Administrative Remedy Program – Program Statement 1330.18